Panel for surfacing buildings

ABSTRACT

A PREFABRICATED ENCLOSURE PANEL, A PLURALITY OF WHICH MAY BE USED TO SURFACE ROOFS OR SIDES OF BUILDINGS. THE PANELS ARE DESIGNED WITH A SHEATHING MEMBER ATTACHED TO LONGITUDINAL GUIDE STRIPS FOR INTERLOCKING WITH A VERTICAL POSITIONED PANEL. THE SHEATHING MEMBER AND GUIDE STRIPS MAY FURTHER CARRY ANGLED ABUTTING ENDS FOR INTERLOCKING WITH A HORIZONTALLY POSITIONED PANEL. A WATER-   PROOFING MEMBRANE PLUS SHINGLES, SHAKES OR OTHER SURFACING MATERIAL MAY BE SECURED TO THE SHEATHING MEMBER.

Dec. 14, 1971 KOUGH ET AL 3,626,651

PANEL FOR SURFACING BUILDINGS Filed Aug. '7, 1969 6 c INVENTORS 6 JOHN K. KOUGH, OTIS M MARHN, TIE :3 BY SI AS N. MILQER.

AT RNEYS United States Patent 3,626,651 PANEL FOR SURFACING BUILDINGS John K. Kough, Rte. 2, Box 62, Morgan Hill, Calif.

95037; Otis M. Martin, 321 Grey Ghost Ave., San Jose,

Calif. 95111; and Silas N. Miller, 5300 Kittridge Road, Saratoga, Calif. 95070 Filed Aug. 7, 1969, Ser. No. 856.236 Int. Cl. E0411 1/20, 1/26, 1/28 US. Cl. 52536 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to means for covering roof, exterior and interior surfaces of buildings and more particularly to prefabricated panels adapted to incorporate materials frequently used for this purpose.

A preferred covering for building surfaces, e.g. siding and roofing, has been shingles or shakes applied over a sheathing and waterproofing membrane. This type of covering has favorable weather resistance and aesthetic attributes. A considerable number of prior attempts have been made to provide shake roofing or siding structures which would avoid some or all of the conventional steps of bundling shakes and shingles, transporting the bundles to the site, applying sheathing, applying waterproof membranes, hoisting the bundles of shakes and shingles to the roof or scaffold, breaking the bundles, and then installing the shakes and shingles one at a time. These steps involve risk of damage to the building materials and considerable installation time and expense. Some of these structures, though providing substantial cost savings, have not been sufliciently weather tight to permit universal use. Others do not provide a satisfactory shake surface appearance and still others have proven too costly to be competitive.

Panels which substantially overcome these aforementioned deficiencies are available and described in United States Patent 3,440,777 issued Apr. 29, 1969 and United States patent applications, Ser. No. 775,731, filed Nov. 14, 1968, entitled, Panel for Surfacing Buildings; and 793,865, filed Jan. 24, 1969, entitled, Blowback Seal for Building Panels. However, for various building structure applications it is desired to have prefabricated panels which are still easier to install and provide a more eifective watertight seal for severe weather conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention teaches an improved prefabricated panel structure, a plurality of which may be used in combination to surface roofs and/or sides of buildings. The panels are adapted for attachment to rafters, studs, furring strips, or other parts of a building structure and interlocking with one another. The panel structure may be adapted to interlock with adjacent vertically placed panels and with adjacent horizontally placed panels independent from the surfacing material. The panels are such that an unskilled person may learn to install and install the panels within a short period of ice time. After installation only the top surface, e.g. the shakes, shingles or other exterior surfacing materials are visible.

An exemplary embodiment incorporates a base member of sheathing, e.g. an exterior-grade plywood section of desired rectangular dimensions. The longitudinal running ends of the sheathing member each engage a guide strip with one designated the top strip protruding above the top surface of the sheathing member and the other designated the bottom strip protruding beneath the bottom surface of the sheathing such that the cross-sectional configuration approaches a substantial Z-shape. The top surface of the sheathing member is covered with a waterproofing membrane, e.g. tarred paper, asphalt saturated felt, asbestos or other membrane having waterproof, fireproof or other desired properties. The membrane may also extend over the exterior exposed surface of the bottom strip. One or more layers of shingles, shakes or other surfacing material may then be installed over the membrane and secured to the sheathing member. The ends of the surfacing material is displaced on the sheathing away from the top strip to form a groove intermediate the ends of the shakes and the top strip for receiving the bottom strip of the vertically adjacent panel. The sha'kes, shingles or other surfacing material may overhang the sheathing beyond the bottom strip so as to overlap the vertically adjacent panel interlocked about the bottom strip.

To further improve interlocking and alignment the end surface of the top strip, the bottom strip and the sheathing may be mitered so that two horizontally adjacent panels when placed in abutting longitudinal relationship form a miter joint.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates in perspective two panels according to the present invention in interlocked relationship and secured to a roof rafter;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of two interlocked panels according to the teachings of the present invention and of diifering structure from those of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 illustrates the lateral ends of adjacent panels for forming miter joints between the guide strips and sheathing members.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED (EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1 in detail, the exterior roof, exterior side walls or interior side walls of a building can be covered by means of a plurality of prefabricated panels referred to by the general character 1. The individual illustrated panels 1 are formed to carry a shake-shingle or other outer surfacing material. The panels 1 may be arranged in a uniform symmetrical manner by a roofer or carpenter or even by an amateur having no special training or high degree of skill. Each panel 1 comprises a base strip in the form of sheathing member 3 which may be a board or other material, but preferably is of exterior grade plywood. Sheathing members 3 having a length L of 8 feet, a width W of 12 inches and a thickness T of /2 inch have proven highly satisfactory. Along the opposite longitudinal running end surfaces of each sheathing member 3 are a pair of guide strips 5 and 6 with the strip :5 designated as the top guide strip and the strip 6 as the bottom guide strip. The strips 5 and 6 are of similar dimensions with a depth d and a width e. The top strip 5 is positioned to be flush with and substantially normal to the plane of the bottom surface of the sheathing member 3 and protrude above the plane of the top surface of the sheathing member 3 a distance d. The bottom edge guide 6 is positioned to be flush with and substantially normal to the plane of the top surface of the sheathing member 3 and protrude beyond the plane of the bottom surface of the sheathing member a similar distance d. Viewing the end of the panel 1 along a line of sight parellel to the dimension L, the sheathing member 3 and the strips 5 and 6 form a crosssectional pattern approaching a Z-shape. In constructing the panels 1 for covering a surface having a continuous common pitch angle, it has been found that when utilizing /2 inch thick sheets of plywood for the sheathing member 3, the guide strips 5 and 6 may have a dimension 2 in the order of /2 inch and a dimension d in the order of 1 inch. Accordingly, the distance d is in the rder of /2 inch.

Each sheathing member 3 is covered with a waterproofing membrane 7, e.g. asbestos, asphalt saturated felt, or other membrane having waterproof, fire resistant or other desired properties. The membrane 7 abuts the top guide strip 5 and covers the top surface of the sheathing member 3. In FIG. 1, the membrane 7 is shown with an overhang folded over to cover the longitudinal running outer surfaces of the bottom guide strip 6. Though the membrane 7 is depicted as a separate sheeting, it may be in other forms. For example, other forms may include a curable liquid sprayed on the top surface of the sheathing member 3 and about the end guide strip 6 which liquid spray then cures as a Water proof, fire resistant, etc. sealing layer. With certain sheathing members 3, no membrane is needed as the sheathing material may inherently possess the desired characteristics such as waterproofing, fire resistance, etc. It may be noted in FIG. 1 that all areas to be surfaced by the panels include a layer of the sheathing member 3 and the membrane 7 such that they, in combination, may provide a complete enclosure.

If necessary and/or desired, a protective wood veneer strip 9 is placed upon the membrane 7 to protect the membrane from atmospheric elements, e.g. from sunlight. The veneer strip 9, which may be in the order of 4; inch in depth is spaced from the upper edge guide 5 a select distance to form a guide'way in the form of a groove 10. The width of the groove 10 is in the order of at least 6 plus an amount to accommodate the width of the membrane 7 so as to accommodate the bottom guide strip of a vertically adjacent panel 1. However, due to the fact that in actual applications, adjacent building rafters or studs do not always establish a common plane, it is desirable to elect the width of the groove 10 to exceed 6 preferably in the order of 2a. This aids in avoiding the necessity of custom fitting panels for application on surfaces having distorted planes. As noted, the veneer strip 9 overhangs beyond the bottom strip member '6 a select distance. Veneer strips 9 having a width dimension of approximately 14 /2 inches have been found highly satisfactory and provide an overhang on the order of 3 /2 inches. Though the discussion has centered about a unitary veneer strip 9, the strip 9 may be in the form of a. plurality of individual shingles such as those commonly used on shake roof structures.

Upon the veneer strip 9 is laid a course of shakes 11. The shakes 11 may be conventional with a rectangular configuration having top and bottom surfaces. The surfaces may be formed by splitting (barn shakes), or one surface formed by splitting and the other surface formed by straight sawing, or by sawing one surface at an angle (taper shakes) or by sawing both sides. The shakes 11 are placed in coterminal edge alignment with the veneer strip 9 away from the top strip 5 so as to aid in forming the groove 10. Shakes 11 having a length M of 15 inches have been found highly satisfactory and provide an overhang in the order of 4 inches. The shakes 11 and the veneer strip '9 are attached to the sheathing 3 by staples 15 or any other suitable manner of fasteners. The length of the staples 15 may be selected so as not to protrude through the sheathing member 3 or to protrude through and clinch back whichever is necessary according to local building codes.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the individual panels 1 may be secured to a rafter means 17 of a building by means of nails 19 or other suitable fastening means. As illustrated, assuming a roofing area is to be enclosed, a first panel 1 may be placed in position on the rafters 17, aligned and secured thereto with the bottom guide 6 engaging a furring strip 20 secured to the rafters. The nails 19 may be driven through the panel along a nailing line positioned to be beneath the overhanging area of the adjacent panel 1. For example, as previously mentioned, the overhang of the shakes 11 may be in the order of 4 inches. Therefore, two nailing lines may extend parallel to the top guide strip 5 while permitting the nailing lines to be separated approximately 3 inches. As illustrated in FIG. 1, when a second panel 1 is positioned vertically adjacent a first panel 1, the bottom guide strip 6 of the second panel engages the groove 10 of the first panel 1 and the overhang of the second panel covers the heads of the nails 19 securing the subjacent first panel 1. Accordingly, the two panels are interlocked and in proper alignment independent of the veneer strip 9 and the shakes 11. The second panel may then be secured in place to the rafters by fastening means 19. Then a third panel 1 may be vertically positioned adjacent to the second panel 1 by positioning the bottom guide strip 6 of the third panel 1 within the groove 10 of the second panel. The membrane 7, by extending over the bottom guide strip 6, engages the membrane 7 which serves as the base surface of the groove 10 of the subjacent interlocked panel 1. This provides a secure weathertight fit between vertically adjacent panels 1. It may further be noted that the overhang of the veneer strip 9 and the shakes 11 retards water from approaching the interlock joint While at the same time hiding the interlocking joint from view. Thus, from the exterior, only the shakes 11 and those segments of the strip 9 within the spacing of adjacent shakes 11 are visible. Preferably, the net depth of the guide strips 5, 6, the membrane 7, the veneer 9 and the shakes 11 is selected such that when a plurality of panels are position in vertical alignment the lower side of the overhang segment engages the top side of the shakes of the subjacent panel. This aids in further retarding moisture from being blown intermediate adjacent panels through the overhang region.

FIG. 2 illustrates a further embodiment of panels according to the present invention, and referred to by the general reference character 21. The panels 21 include the sheathing member 3 as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. A pair of guide strips 22 and 24 having a mitered surface facing the top and bottom surfaces, respectively of the associated sheathing member 3 are included. The mitered surface of the guide strip 22 is adjacent to, extends beyond and faces the plane of the top surface of the member 3. The mitered surface of the guide strip 24 is adjacent to, extends beyond and faces the plane of the bottom surface of the member 3. Accordingly, when the panels 21 are interlocked the mitered surfaces of the guide strips interengage to form an interlock. The membrane 7 on the panel 20 is such that rather than being folded over the exterior surface of the bottom strip 24 as in FIG. 1, it overhangs beyond the bottom strip 24 a select distance, e.g. 3 inches. The veneer 9 is then positioned over the membrane 7 as in the panel 1 and overhangs beyond the overhang of the membrane 7. The shakes 11 are t en secured by the staples 15. Preferably, the net width dimension of the guide strips 22, 24, the membrane 7, the veneer 9 and the shakes 11 is selected such that when a plurality of panels are positioned in vertical alignment the lower side of the overhanging segment of the membrane 7 engages the top side of the subjacent panel as shown. As shown, the overhanging segment of the membrane 7 forms a moisture barrier between the veneer 9 and shakes 11 of vertically interlocked panels. Even if moisture penetrates intermediate the overhang segment of the membrane 7 and the shakes 11 of the subjacent panel 21, the membrane 7 within the base of the groove 10 of the subjacent panel forms a further barrier. Though the illustration centers about a surface area having a common continuous pitch angle the panels are equally adaptable for joining at a common ridge line of two sections having differing pitch angles. Such is the case, for example, with gambrel and mansard type roofs. It has been found that by selecting guide strips 5, 6 or 22, 24 of depths d according to the degree of change in pitch of the sections, panels may be interengaged and secured about the common ridge of the two sections. For example, the top guide strip or 22 of the lower panel and/ or the bottom guide strip 6 or 24 of the upper panel may be increased to compensate for the change in relative angle between the panels meeting at the ridge common to the two roof sections. The butts of the overhand shakes of the top panel may also be increased if necessary to have the bottom surface of the overhanging segment engage the top surface of the lower subjacent panel on the other section.

It may be noted in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 that only one layer of shakes is necessary for each panel. The roofing area is thus primarily covered with a single layer with a double layer only within the overhang regions. Accordingly, the net amount of combustible materials on the surface is greatly minimized. The use of minimal number of shakes provides economical advantages and weight advantages. Further, after a heavy rain, the shakes will dry out rapidly so as to minimize cupping and rotting. At the same time, all areas of the roofing are covered by a membrane to provide a highly airtight and watertight covering.

To further ensure good abutting alignment and weather sealing between horizontally joining panels, and to increase the overall strength of the enclosure, the lateral running end surfaces (butting ends) of each panel 1 or 21 may be mitered. Viewing FIG. 3, the sheathing member 3 is mitered about its laterally running end surface. Assuming the bottom horizontal surface as a reference plane, one lateral running end surface of the member 3 is mitered at an obtuse angle a. The opposite laterally running end surface of the member 3 is mitered at an acute angle b such that the mitered laterally running end surfaces of horizontally adjacent panels 1 are flush to form a miter joint when in abutment. Preferably, the angle a may be in the order of 135 and the angle b in the order of 45 Such angles have been found to minimize the amount of additional sheathing material over that required for square lateral running end surfaces. Also, the top edge guide 5 or 22 and bottom edge guide 6 or 24 may be mitered about their ends. For example, about one end of each guide 5 and 6 of a panel may be mitered at an acute angle c while at their other end they are each mitered at an obtuse angle f. The angles c and f are selected such that when two panels 1 are placed in horizontal abutment the guide strips form a flush miter joint. Again, the preferable contact area is provided when the angle c is in the order of 45 and the angle 1 in the order of 135. Preferably, the panels 1 are mitered such that the end of the guide strips with the obtuse angle coincide with the end of the sheathing member 3 with the acute angle and vice versa. This provides a strong positive interlock capable of withstanding substantial vertical forces even when the panels meet between rafters. The edge guide strips 5 and 6 may be selected such that at a common end one guide strip is mitered at an acute angle and the other guide strip is mitered at an obtuse angle. To still further provide a weathertight seal, as illustrated by the broken ghost lines in FIG. 3, the membrane material 7 may extend over the mitered surfaces of the sheathing member 3 and the bottom guide member 5.

Accordingly, there has been herein described a covering panel adapted to include surfacing material such as shakes which may be easily prefabricated and transported. At the building site the panels are adapted for rapid, easy and direct securement in place on the building exterior or interior structure. At the same time, the panels provide assurance of proper alignment and waterproof sealing with only the surfacing material exteriorly visible. The panels are adapted to interlock with one another vertically and horizontally independent from the surfacing material.

We claim:

1. A panel for surfacing buildings, comprising in combination:

a sheathing member having a top surface and a bottom surface;

a first guide strip secured to one longitudinal running edge of the sheathing member, the first guide strip extending beyond the plane of the top surface of the sheathing member;

a surfacing material extending over said top surface of the sheathing member;

a second guide strip secured to another longitudinal running edge of the sheathing member, the second guide strip extending beyond the plane of said bottom surface of the sheathing member;

a weather resistant membrane extending over said top surface of the sheathing member and intermediate the surfacing material and said sheathing,

said surfacing material being in the form of a layer of shakes secured over the membrane in side-by-side relation to each other the shakes being spaced from the first guide strip to form a guideway intermediate the end of the shakes and the first guide strip, the width of the guideway being at least the width of the second guide strip,

the shakes extending beyond the second guide strip a distance suflicient to overlay the guideway of a subjacent joined panel; and

a veneer strip intermediate the shakes and the membrane, the veneer strip being arranged to extend beyond the second guide strip,

the membrane having an overhang segment extending beyond the second guide strip,

the membrane extending within the guideway and abutting the first guide strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,789 4/1920 Sheer 52-590 1,665,442 4/1928 Campbell 52-602 2,081,191 5/1937 Wright 52-542 3,197,933 8/1965 Burns 52-586 3,348,350 10/1967 Mills 52-542 3,440,777 4/1969 Martin 52-560 2,857,632 10/1958 Gonser 52-745 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,137 3/1873 Great Britain 52-540 4,631 12/1877 Great Britain 52-540 HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-540, 542, 593 

